{"id":304811,"date":"2025-12-08T10:10:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T10:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/304811\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T10:10:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T10:10:15","slug":"wolves-have-missed-their-chance-at-salvation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/304811\/","title":{"rendered":"Wolves have missed their chance at salvation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n When analysing what happened next to the league\u2019s worst ever sides, one awkward point stands out for Wolves \u00a0 <\/p>\n

Wolverhampton Wanderers have become the punchline. Anyone can beat anyone this Premier League season\u2026 Oh, except for Wolves. <\/p>\n

You could throw a blanket over the majority of clubs it is that close in the table, though Wolves are not peeking out from underneath but instead nowhere near this metaphorical cover.<\/p>\n

The club are doomed. Their fans know this, and it would help the club no end if their owners accept their fate as well.<\/p>\n

If that sounds pessimistic it merely matches the mood inside Molineux<\/a>, where they host Manchester United on Monday in pursuit of their first league win of the season.<\/p>\n

Two points from 14 is the joint-worst start alongside Sheffield United in 2020-21, but 14 games is hardly a \u201cstart\u201d and places Wolves firmly in the middle of a season destined to end in relegation.<\/p>\n

And the mastermind they needed? Well, he took charge of Nottingham Forest instead \u2013 at a time when Wolves should have taken action first \u2013 with Sean Dyche also the latest manager to inflict defeat on this hapless side in midweek. <\/p>\n

\"WOLVERHAMPTON,Wolves have little hope of staying up (Photo: Getty) <\/p>\n

It took Sheffield United until their 18th match, on 12 January 2021, to win a league match that season. They won six more to finish on 23 points, but still they came bottom.<\/p>\n

Wolves meanwhile are staring at Premier League infamy. Last season Southampton only narrowly avoided matching Derby County\u2019s unwanted record low of 11 points, but now there is a new contender for that thorned crown.<\/p>\n

Maths tells us Wolves are on course for just five points at their current rate, or 5.43 points to be exact, and while that is a mere win away they know they must grind out more victories to avoid the ignominy of becoming the worst side of the Premier League era.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

And while a look at the six worst performing teams in Premier League history offers Wolves two beacons of hope, there is a harsh reality as a major caveat which owners Fosun may be unwilling to abide with.<\/p>\n

What happened next?<\/p>\n

Derby County 2007-08: 11 points \u2013 Yet to return to the Premier League, losing two play-off finals in 2014 and 2019 \u2013 as well as exiting in the semi-finals in 2016 and 2018 \u2013 before going down to League One in 2022. Now back in the Championship.<\/p>\n

Southampton 2024-25: 12 points \u2013 Narrowly avoided the worst-ever Premier League season last term and were off to a shocking start in the Championship before a four-game winning run recently took them back up to mid-table.<\/p>\n

Sunderland 2005-06: 15 points \u2013 The Black Cats bounced back immediately, winning the Championship title before enjoying 10 straight seasons back in the Premier League, with 10th in 2010-11 their best finish during that time. Now after another rollercoaster \u2013 that involved League One and the absorbing fly-on-the-wall Sunderland \u2018Til I Die series \u2013 they are back upsetting the big boys once again<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sheffield United 2023-24: 16 points \u2013 A painful play-off final defeat after Sunderland scored an injury-time winner prevented the Blades from making an immediate return. Paying the price now, although a recent uptick in form has taken them out of the Championship relegation zone.<\/p>\n

Huddersfield Town 2018-19: 16 points \u2013 Flirted more with relegation than promotion after dropping back down to the Championship, and following a play-off final defeat to Nottingham Forest in 2022, they went down to League One last year and only finished 10th in 2024-25.<\/p>\n

Aston Villa 2015-16: 17 points \u2013 Villa\u2019s ever-present Premier League status ended in dismal fashion but proved to be the reset the club needed. After losing the play-off final in 2018 they won at Wembley the following year and are now in Europe. What Wolves fans would give for a similar recovery.<\/p>\n

The lesson for Wolves?<\/p>\n

Change your owners. Villa and Sunderland are comfortably the feel-good stories from the above six, and both are currently achieving dizzying results after changing owners during life in the lower leagues.<\/p>\n

Villa almost entered administration in 2018 under former owner Dr Tony Xia, but along came new owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens to save the club.<\/p>\n

\t\tYour next read<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\"Article <\/a><\/p>\n

Sunderland meanwhile changed hands in 2021 when Kyril Louis-Dreyfus became the majority shareholder. On his watch they have gone from League One to the Premier League.<\/p>\n

It leaves Wolves in a perilous situation unless Fosun start showing either that they still care or are willing to put the club up for sale.<\/p>\n

Fans have told The i Paper already they fear extinction<\/a> under their current owners, and the only way to get the club out of their malaise appears to be a change in ownership.<\/p>\n

Fosun though have not yet shown a willingness to sell, meaning when, and that is when, they become a Championship club for the first time since 2017-18 next season, we may truly learn just how prepared they are to save Wolves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When analysing what happened next to the league\u2019s worst ever sides, one awkward point stands out for Wolves…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304812,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[221,90,72903,56,54,55,4407,21664],"class_list":{"0":"post-304811","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-premier-league","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-sports-comment","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-unitedkingdom","14":"tag-wildlife","15":"tag-wolverhampton-wanderers-fc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}